Johnette
Feminine form of John, derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 1,410 living Americans carry the first name Johnette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Johnette today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johnette births was 1949 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johnette. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 243,088 Americans
Peak year
1949
58 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2006 SSA rank
#18,452
Tracked since 1914
Census
Johnette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,530 people with the first name Johnette, which placed it at #9,196 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,196
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,530 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johnette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnette is White at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Johnette described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Johnette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.6% · 790
- Black or African American34.4% · 527
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 76
- Two or more races4.2% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 18
Popularity
Johnette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johnette from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 455 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johnette by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Johnette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johnettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Johnette, while Ohio, Mississippi, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johnette
The name Johnette is a feminine form of the masculine name John, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name John has its roots in the biblical figure John the Baptist, a Jewish preacher who baptized Jesus Christ.
Johnette is an English name that emerged as a diminutive form of John, likely during the Middle Ages. It was used as an affectionate or familiar version of the name, often given to young girls or women named after a male relative named John.
While the name Johnette does not have a long and storied history like its masculine counterpart, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name throughout the years.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johnette is Johnette Napolitano, an American singer-songwriter and bassist, born in 1957. She is best known as the founder and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Concrete Blonde.
Another notable Johnette is Johnette Downing, an American singer and musician, born in 1941. She is celebrated for her work in the jazz and blues genres and has collaborated with many renowned artists over the course of her career.
In the realm of literature, Johnette Howard is an American sportswriter and author, born in 1958. She has written for various publications, including The Washington Post and ESPN.com, and is known for her insightful coverage of sports and athletes.
Johnette Starr is an American actress and model, born in 1963. She has appeared in numerous television shows and films, most notably in the popular sitcom "The Cosby Show" during the late 1980s.
Lastly, Johnette Napolitano is an American artist and sculptor, born in 1946. Her work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums across the United States, and she is recognized for her unique style and creative vision.
While the name Johnette may not be as widespread or historically significant as some other names, it has nonetheless been borne by notable individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields.
People
Johnette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johnette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Johnette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johnette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johnette going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 243,088 US residents.
Is Johnette a common name?
We classify Johnette as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,004 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johnette most popular?
The single biggest year for Johnette was 1949, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johnette is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Johnette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,530 people with the name Johnette, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,196 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Johnette in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Johnette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johnette appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,526 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Johnette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnette is White at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Johnette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Johnette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (790 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Johnette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Johnette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Johnette in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Johnette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Johnette in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Johnette can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Johnette?
See how many people share the name Johnette on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.